"My Three Sons"... Naughty sons, at that!... meets "Sarah, Plain and Tall" in this delightful marriage of convenience story that shows how amazingly inconvenient love... and life... can be!

Widower Matt Wilmot is in trouble. His boys are causing chaos and wreaking havoc, his former mother-in-law is threatening to sue for custody, his father just had heart surgery and their family company is liable for a huge balloon payment on a loan his father took out to expand the business the previous year. But rain and illness took their toll, and Matt is having a rough time spinning multiple plates in the air.

​But when he discovers Elle Drake next door, a woman with a wonderful hand at managing errant boys, cranky relatives, and frustrated men... Matt's world suddenly

​tips back into a more normal orbit. And when drastic measures are required, it's the girl next door who's there to save the day.

Elle Drake wanted nothing more than to create beautiful pottery and have a family, but when her millionaire husband publicly dumped the renowned artist for another woman, Elle moves back to Cedar Mills to start anew, the spinster artist with her big potting shed. But when her to-die-for good-looking neighbor thinks marriage is a good idea, Elle figures he's either crazy, desperate or right.

But a marriage of convenience can become its own conundrum, and when life takes sudden turns, can this marriage become all that they bargained for? And maybe more than a promise?

Multi-published, bestselling author Ruth Logan Herne loves God, her family, her country, dogs, chocolate and coffee! A country gal with a heart for the big city, Ruthy likes nothing more than to write the kind of books she loves to read, and she's even more happy that now she gets paid to do it! She's been married for a Very Long Time and she and her husband Dave live on a small farm in upstate New York where lake effect snow buries them on a regular basis in winter. But that's all right... it gives her more time to write!

1. I have friends in the excavating business, and a comment they made once a long time ago, about how some folks figure they’ve got plenty of money, and put off paying them… so that became the reasoning behind the financial difficulties that raised up to trip up the company

2. Somewhere there are three boys who were the original three little boys who came into church SO RELUCTANTLY about six years ago, and inspired this book… and I hope they’re all well and happy!

3. The Polish aspects of Elle’s family were inspired by a wonderful wedding reception I attended years ago, where the ladies of St. Stanislaus’s Church did a Thanksgiving dinner, pass the plate at each table kind of meal, and it was marvelous! Wonderful turkey and stuffing, puddles of gravy and delicious cranberry sauce and homemade pickles. I love church dinners!

4. And at that same wedding, I made the wedding cake, drove it hours to the reception and a layer CRACKED…. Luckily I had made an extra layer (just in case!) and I took the broken layer out, slipped the extra layer in, frosted, decorated and used real red roses to give a “cascade” effect, and NO ONE KNEW A THING!!!!! Yes!

5. The three boys were actually based on two brothers and a sister I’ve had in daycare/after school care for years… Amos is based on Casey, when she was little, and my readers see Casey on my facebook page, on my blog, and in Yankee Belle Café because she’s my “mother’s helper” now and helps on the farm in the summer. And she’s ALMOST DONE WITH HIGH SCHOOL so you can see that life has moved on since I wrote “More Than a Promise”, LOL!

6. Sarah, Plain and Tall is one of my favorite children’s stories, and I used that premise to write an adult version in “More Than a Promise”. If you’ve never read “Sarah, Plain and Tall”, you should… it’s just a wonderful marriage of convenience story set in the early 1900’s. I love it!

7. I love heroes that work with their hands… and guys with big equipment are as happy as little boys with Tonka Trucks until they break! And then they are GRUMPY. If you’re wondering about farmers, insert “tractor” for “backloader” or “grader” and you get the same result! And don’t talk to these men about weather!!!!! EEEK!

8. I love the church setting in Cedar Mills. The fun of older Catholic churches is how the church may reflect the ethnicity of the immigrants who came here with nothing, but pooled together to explore and expand their right to practice their faith freely. Neighborhoods were often defined by these beautiful churches and the congregations that flocked there weekly and daily.

9. I’m always amazed at how pockets of art can bring mass appeal. I wanted Elle’s work to be that way, based on a Thomas Kincade-type fame. Her longing and love came through her work and appealed to the masses, the “you and me” types. But there’s a downside to some of that because “true artistes” often find fault with commercial art, and abandon their friendships. Is it jealousy? Or disregard?

10. And finally… The spray-painted dog is a real thing. It happened a long time ago, and it wasn’t one of my kids (although it could have been!) and it took a long time for that dog’s fur to grow out. But… it did. Eventually!

+ a few more...

​Favorite quote: “Plenty of time for rest in the grave” (Ben Franklin) AND “No one can make you feel inferior without your permission” (Eleanor Roosevelt)

I have always loved to write. First I loved to read, and then I wanted to make up my own stories. Tell my own tales.
Are all writers born this way?

I don’t know, but some are. I can see the creative urge in some of my children, and now my grandchildren. Some are storytellers. Some aren’t.

So then I think genetics, that long spiral, that double helix that repeats non-stop and sets us in motion. What part of that curling piece makes us artsy? Athletic? Musical? What parts feeds genius?
I’ve heard that the chasm separating the right from left brain is narrower in brilliant people. (Of course they have to be DEAD to prove that, so not too many volunteer their brains for a check on it until it’s well… Let’s just say it’s “late”….)

But what if it isn’t just spacing and selective genetics? What if there’s a subjective component of “nurture” or (in my case) “lack of nurture”?

Hi, I’m Ruthy and I love making up stories, but because I was born into a very poor, dysfunctional family, I think it was more than gifted genetic talent that spurred my goals.

I wanted to fix things. From the time I was young and realized our family had few happy endings, I wanted to create stories that erupt into a solid happy ending. I wanted, no, make that longed to show that happy endings don’t have to be obscure. They’re here, right here, at our fingertips if we’re willing to make the necessary choices. I wrapped my goals in faith and a solid work ethic and (as life often does) I met a number of left turns including six children, multiple jobs and a quiet push from God to be patient…

What choice did I have? But looking back, I see the path much more clearly now! Waiting to jump into the writing pool offered me the chance to hone a lot of life experience, on-the-job training for book research, a fun study of human nature, cute kids, brats and everything in between! I birthed children and helped birth dogs and calves. I’ve milked cows and processed fresh chickens! I’ve smoked bacon and grown just about every fruit and veggie you can imagine. I’ve worked as a billing clerk, a teacher’s aide with emotionally disturbed children, a waitress, a bridal consultant, a babysitter… gosh, so many nametag and hairnet jobs, I can’t list them all. But each one brought me a little more experience under my belt… and more story fodder!

I love to write, and I would encourage anyone who loves this craft to jump in. Do it! Don’t hesitate. When the time is right, go for it.

Writing can be learned. I’ve seen that often. But storytelling is often an inborn gift, so if that’s your talent? If that’s your inclination…. Do it.

This Erma Bombeck quote sits above my kitchen sink where I see it several times a day: “When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left and I could say, "I used everything that you gave me."

And that’s my goal. To use everything he gave me, making others smile. And when you read a “Ruthy” book… It’s my hope that’s exactly what you’ll do…. Smile and walk away a little big happier and more hopeful. And that’s a pretty sweet goal!

I had the honor and pleasure of reading this novel several months ago to "endorse" the book.
​You can see my endorsement that is on the back of the book below.